1. Build a JKD filter
There are many techniques in the martial art world that are taught. Some are very efficient and some are not. Some only work on certain types of opponents. Once you have learned the essential elements and have worked on trying to understand the strengths and weaknesses of any particular technique or style you can then decide what works or not in any particular situation. You can create what we call a “built in BS detector”. The other main reasons are a part of this filter.
2. Learn how not to be bound by any style or system
Any style or system has a “way” to do something. They react in the way they are taught to react in a certain situation. This can work a lot of the time, but since a lot of arts mostly seem to train against what they are taught, they sometimes have difficulty against what they have never seen before. When the UFC started we saw that many trained martial artists were unable to deal with the grappler, as they had never trained against it. This is not such a problem now as most martial artists cross train in grappling as well as stand up. Still there may be a problem of only training for the ring, which for safety must have rules. JKD can at least make you aware that what works in the ring may not always work in the street. That said training for the ring and cross training is some of the best training out there. Reason #3 is one of the main ways of looking at things that can make reasons 1 and 2 work.
3. What are they offering you?
When someone attacks you, they are offering you something, so you can counter-attack them. If you are able to control the distance, your opponent will need to step forward to bridge the gap to attack you. This means that their front leg is vulnerable to a side kick or leg obstruction. When you are working on defending against an attack always notice what they are giving you. You need to understand that it is almost impossible for an opponent to attack without leaving an opening of some kind. You have to make sure you have the awareness to “see” the attack coming as well have the tool to stop the attack. Some arts that I have studied teach things that will only work against someone who is not skilled or is skilled in something that may or may not work against a certain opponent. When training in a system, JKD can help you be aware of what your opponent is offering you. But depending on the school or the teacher, you may want to keep this to yourself.
The way we teach JKD is to really analyze the good and bad points of each thing we learn. I remember when we were working on street grappling with Lloyd Kennedy, he told us that if we noticed anything that he was teaching may not work or if he was offering us something that could make him vulnerable to a counter, to point it out to him as he would rather learn that in a class situation instead of on the street. We try to do this with every technique that we are working on.
4. What are you giving them?
The reverse of #3 above is to understand what you are giving them when you attack. Like a zone defense in basketball there is always 1/3 of the court open to the offense. They just have to be able to take advantage of it. Since attacking a skilled opponent can be dangerous, we prefer to counter-attack with either a stop hit or kick. If we do need to attack because of circumstances, then we attack in a way to shut down their ability to intercept.
5. Full contact sparring
While many arts now do some form of full contact sparring, most of it is some form of ring sparring. If you are training for a full contact fight against particular opponent, you are also training to fight in a known environment with rules and a referee. You may also know what type of fighter you are going to face by either studying film or researching his trainer, etc. The point is that you have some idea of what will occur in the contest. You have probably even watched film of the fighter.
You may in your sparring in class train against various types of opponents. For example, you might train specifically against an opponent who gives ground against an attack, or one who shoots for a take down, or one who blocks, or even intercepts your attack. In the street you have none of this information or much time to read the intentions of your opponent.
With drills like the hammer principle, we try to work on reading the intention of our opponent in a street situation. We also try to make our sparring as alive as possible by having the attacker take on the aspect of one of the above fighters without the defender know what will be coming.
While many arts have some if not all of the above reasons, we have found that a lot of our training is different in that instead of daily increase, we try to work on daily decrease. That is, JKD believes in doing a few things well instead of doing a lot of things not so well. As Bruce Lee told Bob Bremer, “The best way to win a fight is to just reach over and knock him out.” By working on a few things, we try a get as much power in our basic punches and kicks as possible so we can intercept with enough power to stop the attack as quickly as possible. The problem is that the student is always looking for a new technique. If he is always working on making the basics better and better and honing the skills that he has, he may become bored and quit. That is why Bruce Lee said that Jeet Kune Do is not for everyone.
Walk On.
